A week after the Maple Leafs were eliminated, the winger was just fine about getting a second playoff lifeline with the Marlies and build his case for full time NHL work next year.

One of the surprises in the Boston series, with a mix of speed, sass and scoring touch that kept the Bruins on their toes while out-shining some older mates, Moore was back on Monday, wearing his No. 9, readying for round two against Cleveland to defend the Calder Cup he was part of last spring.

“It’s a place most people want to be, with the winning culture we’ve created here,” Moore said. “I’m excited to see everyone (he was called up for the third and final time around the NHL trade deadline). Winning it last year helped a lot. You know what it takes, you roll the team over (half the 2018 roster is gone), but you know the recipe.”

Moore rejoins the top six forwards on a line with leading scorer Jeremy Bracco and veteran centre Chris Mueller. He’ll be playing to about a third of the crowd as the electric TD Garden and Scotiabank Arena and of course he’d rather be taking on Cleveland’s parent team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, after the Leafs missed two chances to move on.

“That was really tough, knowing how much it meant to the city,” Moore said of losing to Boston in seven. “All the players were beat up about it. But a lot of guys, myself included, were proud of what we did. A day after (Game 7), I still had a lot of energy left. You saw some of our guys going to the world championships; I’m fortunate I can do this.”

Moore and coach Sheldon Keefe had a post-practice meeting to catch up.

As expected, Leaf leading scorer John Tavares will be on Team Canada at the worlds, starting next week in Slovika. At 47 regular season goals, he has the most on the preliminary roster of 22 players that was released Monday.

Toronto’s top point man Mitch Marner said last week he’d decline because of the uncertainty in his contract talks, while Auston Matthews and William Nylander were considering a chance with the U.S. and Sweden respectively. Defencemen Nikita Zaitsev (Russia) and Martin Marincin (Slovakia) are going.

HYMAN HOPES FOR FAST RECOVERY

Zach Hyman tweeted from his hospital bed Monday afternoon that knee surgery to repair the left winger’s torn ACL went well.

“Recovery starts now. I’ll be back on my feet in no time,” Hyman relayed.

His recuperation period was pegged at a minimum six months when the Leafs revealed his condition last week, but Hyman, who is a quick healer in coach Mike Babcock’s opinion, hopes to beat that projection.

K.K. IS OK

Goaltending was such a hot topic for the Leafs this year with Frederik Andersen’s workload, Curtis McElhinney’s departure, Garret Sparks’ readiness to be back up, Michael Hutchinson’s arrival and the signing of NCAA star Joseph Woll.

But as of now, the only two stoppers in the system still playing weren’t on the radar, Kasimir Kaskisuo for the Marlies after they swept Rochester in round one and draft pick Ian Scott, who helped Prince Albert to the Western Hockey League final against the Vancouver Giants.

Hutchinson’s return will not alter Keefe’s plan to let Kaskisuo play Game 1 against Cleveland on Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

“He’s been really good for a chunk of time here,” said Keefe of the Finnish AHL veteran. “His last 15 or so starts, he’s been as good as anybody in the entire league. Talking to our players before the Rochester series, they had a lot of confidence in him, which was important because we’d lost Hutchinson.

Rosen was plugged right into the Game 3 clincher versus Rochester after a late call-up by the Leafs, but like Hutchinson, saw no playoff action.

“They’re significant pieces of our team, not just guys parachuted in,” Keefe said of all three sent back by the Leafs. “That helps our chemistry. They’d rather be up with the Leafs and still playing, but this isn’t a bad consolation.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Mac Hollowell, a smooth-skating fourth round pick last year, who had an excellent playoff with the Soo Greyhounds, cracked the Marlie defence at the end of the Rochester series and will likely start against Cleveland … Toronto native John Madden, a three-time Cup winner with New Jersey and Chicago is the Cleveland coach. His team took out the favoured Syracuse Crunch … The Monsters have another local, forward Liam Foudy, a first round pick of the Jackets and son of former CFL defensive back Sean Foudy and track star France Gareau … The Marlies killed eight of nine penalties against Rochester.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.